IRGC Commander: US Claim about Sabotaging Iranian Missiles Void, Disclosing US Drones Hacking Came in Reply

General Hajizadeh dismissed the US claims of sabotaging Iran’s missile program, and said that “we have understood this since several years ago but kept silent about it” and adopted special measures to confront it.

He made the remarks on Sunday, addressing a festival in Tehran.

The senior IRGC commander explained that the US and its allies first sought to prevent manufacturing of missiles, then blocked imports of large parts and machines, prevented the imports of boards and little parts later and then withheld exports of little electronic parts to Iran.

And when they witnessed uselessness of their attempts, they resorted to sabotage acts “but they have failed to do a damn thing so far because we have taken their animosity seriously”, he said.

He also elaborated on the IRGC’s measures to protect its achievements in production of missiles and ammunition, and said, “Keeping ammunitions in underground tunnels was implemented for the first time in 1984 and we have used this method until today to build and keep different types of missiles.”

Later today the general said the US claim about sabotaging Iranian missile program was foiled right in the start, and the IRGC Aerospace Force decided to disclose its successful hacking of several US drones in Iraq and Syria in response to such baseless claims.

“We stated this issue (penetration into the US command center) today because the Americans showed an impertinent behavior and said that they had sent damaged parts to our missile industries,” General Hajizadeh told reporters in Tehran on Sunday.

“We did this to tell them that you were not able to attain your goals and instead, we penetrated into your systems and it was a response to the Americans’ impudence,” Hajizadeh said.

Last Wednesday, Hajizadeh had also strongly rejected the US claims of sabotaging Iran’s missile program as just a lie.

“If this is not a lie then why are they strongly are missile negotiations? But I say that it is a lie” and it is a big shame for the US, General Hajizadeh said, addressing a forum in the Western city of Hamedan.

He said when the US and Israel attempted to sabotage Iran’s missile industry, the country’s missile experts not only foiled their plot vigilantly but also turned it into a big and valuable opportunity for the country.

General Hajizadeh referred to US President Donald Trump’s remarks who asked his predecessors about the reason for such huge expenses in the Middle-East in the past few years, and said their failed attempts to sabotage Iran’s missile program was one of the places that the money was spent.

His remarks came after the US media claimed that the administration of President Donald Trump had reportedly revived a secret plan to sabotage Iran’s ballistic missiles as part of its broader plan to weaken the Islamic Republic’s military might and harm its economy.

Some US media claimed quoting unnamed official sources in the US administration that Iran’s recent failed in launching satellites was the result of the United States’ long-time sabotage operations in its missile program.

Then on Thursday, Hajizadeh disclosed that several US aircraft that were constantly flying over Syria and Iraq were under IRGC’s control and their first-hand intelligence was being monitored and retrieved by his forces after penetrating into the US command center.

“Seven to eight drones that had constant flights over Syria and Iraq were brought under our control and their intel was monitored by us and we could gain their first-hand intel,” General Hajizadeh said in the Western Iranian city of Hamedan on Thursday.

The footage shows a US flying drone starts malfunctioning and makes a rough landing in a desert area 10 kilometers away from its base.

The US troops avoid approaching the malfunctioning drone as they are not sure who is controling the aircraft, and hence send a manned aircraft to bomb the drone.

The Footage Released by FNA Showed IRGC’s Penetration into US Army’s Command Center

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The footage that displays the IRGC’s penetration into the US spy drone’s intel has been recorded by an IRGC drone flying above the scene.

Later in the day a Pentagon spokesperson indirectly confirmed the Thursday report by FNA that the IRGC gained control of several US aircraft that were constantly flying over Syria and Iraq and retrieved their first-hand intelligence after penetrating into the US command center.

When asked by RT about the report, Pentagon Spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich, said, “We are aware of the report and we have nothing else to add.”

Iran is one of the prioneering countries in drone technology. The country has long been manufacturing drones since the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s. But it took a long leap in drone technology nearly a decade ago. The Iranian military first downed a US army RQ-170 Sentinel in Eastern Iran in 2011. Months later, Iran started production of its own RQ-170 stealth aircraft after reverse engineering the downed US aircraft. The Iranian RQ-170 conducted its official flight in November 2014.

The original US drone was a stealth aircraft manufactured for surveillance and spying operations, while the Iranian version of the RQ-170 drone has been equipped by the IRGC with bombing capability as well.

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development arm is thought to have developed the RQ-170 by around 2005, and the US deployed the stealthy aircraft to Afghanistan by 2008. However, the US Air Force did not officially acknowledge the program until December 2009.

Back in October 2013, General Hajizadeh said Iran moved as much as 35 years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering of the US drone.

Iran has downed a collection of US drones, including Scan Eagle, Raptor, M-Q9 surveillance. The range of the various types of US Unmmaned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) downed by Iran has now amounted to a dozen, and it has started reproducing them immediately after conducting reverse engineering. Several squadrons of these robotic warriors are already in mission.

Last Thursday, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri underlined that Iran along with Russia and Turkey believe that the foreign forces which have been deployed in Syria without any coordination with Damascus should evacuate the war-torn state.

Iran, Russia and Turkey as the guarantor states have called for the withdrawal of forces who are present in certain parts of Syria without coordination with the legal government in Syria and have occupied some regions, General Baqeri said, alluding to the deployment of the American forces in Eastern Euphrates region in Syria.

The Iranian top commander made the remarks in a joint meeting with Russian and Turkish Defense Ministers General Sergey Shoigu and General Hulusi Akar in the resort city of Sochi in Russia on Thursday.

He also added that the US officials’ remarks on withdrawing forces from Syria are just claims.